How rich is J.K. Rowling Author of the Harry Potter Series?

Going from being very poor and living in poverty to having a customized $250,000 tree house built for your 3 children is a huge leap. That is what happened for J.K. Rowling who is the author of the Harry Potter series and part of the screenwriting team for the movies. This series was a way for Rowling to unleash her talents and to reduce stress when she was a single mom taking care of her daughter.

Writing is something that Rowling did as a young child. Being 4 years older than her sister Dianne, she would write stories and read them to her before bed. Her sister continues to be one of her biggest fans and encouraged her to write professionally.

Before she was able to get the first Harry Potter book written and published, Rowling worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. She began working on the story for Harry Potter while waiting for the trains to take her to and from work. The pen name J.K. was the brainstorm of the publishers. They were worried that boys interested in Harry Potter wouldn’t even pick it up if it were written by a female. The use of two initials made it less obvious of the gender of the author.

Rowling is published a novel for the adult fans out there called The Casual Vacancy. A great deal of the money she has earned has gone to help with various charities including those that help homeless families to get back on their feet. In 2010, she was given an award in Britain for being The Most Influential Woman of the Year.

So how much is $1 billion dollars really?

Rowling definitely has the money now to do anything she would like to. With $1 billion, she can buy herself a beautiful new home in Hollywood. She is a huge fan of Bruce Willis, and his home is now on the market. It’s being sold for $22 million. It would be her dream home and perhaps he would hand her the keys personally just to make it more special? At the same time, she could offer him some autographed books for his three daughters and everyone would have a smile on their faces at the end of the day.